In general, an oral dissolving film (ODF) refers to a dosage form to be taken and dissolved in the oral cavity such as the tongue, the oral mucosa, or the subglossal. The oral dissolving film includes an edible film manufactured by mixing materials which is soluble in water and is not harmful to a human body with substances which is useful for the human body.
These oral dissolving films are advantageous in that the oral dissolving film can be taken without water and are convenient to carry.
The oral dissolving film (edible film) is usually vulnerable to moisture and is provided in a form of a thin film. The oral dissolving film is cut with appropriate sizes, and each oral dissolving film is sealed and packaged with a wrapping sheet one by one. In the use, the wrapping sheet is cut off and drawn out. Alternatively, the wrapping sheet is drawn out one by one from a dispenser storing the oral dissolving films cut with a certain size. Alternatively, the oral dissolving film is cut off with a certain size and drawn out from a dispenser storing a roll of the oral dissolving film.
Such an oral dissolving film (edible film) is manufactured by coating an edible liquid material on a base film sheet and drying, and the oral dissolving film is wound in a form of a roll to be stored. Alternatively, the oral dissolving film is transferred to a packaging machine. In the packaging machine, the oral dissolving film is slit and cut into individual products, and individual products are inserted into each wrapping member, packaged, and sealed one by one.
However, in the method for manufacturing an oral dissolving film (edible film) in the related art, there are problems as follows. Namely, since the packaging is performed after the slitting and cutting of the film, the number of manufacturing steps is increased. In addition, since the film is stored in a form of a roll, an inventory of semi-finished products is increased, and thus, there are problems such as a decrease of productivity and an increase of costs due to inventory burden. In addition, sanitation management is additionally required.
In view of these problems, Korean Patent No. 10-1013206 discloses an apparatus and method of manufacturing an oral dissolving film capable of simplifying manufacturing facilities and preventing contamination in transfer and storage of the oral dissolving film by manufacturing the oral dissolving film through a method of intermittently coating an edible film prepared by using an intermittent coating apparatus, drying the film, and automatically packaging the film.
However, in the apparatus and method of manufacturing an edible film as described in Korean Patent No. 10-1013206, a product is manufacturing in a form that the edible film is coated with the same medicine in multiple columns in a single layer, there are many inconveniences for users in situations where it is necessary to take various kinds of medicines at the same time.
For example, since a product is manufactured by coating with the same medicine in a single layer and separately packaging, in the case of taking various kinds of small-amount medicines, there is an inconvenience in that the separately packaged medicines need to be unpacked to take one by one.
In order to solve the problems, several proposals have been made on products where an oral dissolving film (edible film) is coated with different kinds of medicines. However, since these products are manufactured by coating and laminating on upper and lower portions thereof, the thickness of the film is thickened, and thus, the film is not well dried. Therefore, there is a problem in that the productivity is lowered and it is difficult to ensure product quality.
In addition, the products where different kinds of medicines are coated and laminated are disadvantageous in that it is impossible to separately take the medicines in a situation where separate taking is required.